An efficient DC-DC switching regulator transforms one DC voltage to another DC voltage by time slicing the use of an inductive coil. The inductive coil is typically magnetically energized and de-energized with two different time domain periods, thereby leading to a scaling up or a scaling down of the energizing DC voltage.
A typical on-chip implementation of a DC-DC switching regulator circuit requires the fabrication of large inductors on-chip along with high and low side switching transistors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,820, issued to Namgoong et al. on Aug. 31, 1999, discloses an example of a DC-DC switching regulator circuit of this type. A disadvantage of this approach, however, is that, as current flows through the two switching transistors, I2R losses occur.